12 Reasons The Star Wars Sequels Aren't As Bad As You Think

8. Luke Skywalker Is So Much Better Than Before

Star Wars Sequels
Lucasfilm

Rian Johnson did not assassinate Luke Skywalker. He saved him.

Prior to the Sequels Luke Skywalker, despite a strong character arc in the Original Trilogy, was not a great movie hero overall. He was whiny, very badly played by Mark Hamill and was hopelessly overshadowed by the other characters in the trilogy.

In the Sequels, he's great. In both Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker he gets some of the best dialogue of the trilogy and his character arc - going from a depressed exile who has lost all hope to the hero he once was again - was very powerful. The scene with him and Yoda's force ghost in Last Jedi was particularly brilliant.

He should've appeared a lot more in Rise of Skywalker, but in spite of this he was still a good presence in the movie and his scene with Rey was excellent.

As for the backlash to Luke in Last Jedi, what needs to be remembered is that people change in thirty years and when they're middle-aged they won't be exactly like how they were as young adults.

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Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.